Seven Months!

Haylea is seven months old today!  We had a great day outside enjoying the beautiful weather.  It has been so much fun watching her this past month.  She is so observant about the world around her and she loves to watch and take everything in!  She is starting to get frustrated about not being able to go where she wants to go but I think she is starting to figure out how to scoot around a little.  She usually just gets frustrated and screams at me until I help her though! 

Our nights have been a little rough the past few weeks.  I think it is the separation anxiety stage.  She will cry about every hour and sometimes put herself back to sleep but usually I have to go rock her for just a few minutes.  Usually she is back asleep before I even sit down.  Ocasionally she will let daddy console her but most of the time she cries until I go.  It is nice to be loved but momma needs some sleep!  My cut off is about 2am...if I have been in there every hour by then I am done and usually give in and either put her in her swing or bring her to bed with me...but then of course I don't get quality sleep.  Hopefully she gets over it soon...whatever her deal is!  Naptime, however has been much better!  I have been able to actually put her in her bed for naps instead of the swing most days.  She doesn't quite sleep as long but it is a start. 

She did get her bottom two teeth and we thought she was working on two more on the bottom but she seems to have put that on hold!  For a while her gums were really swollen and she was really drooly (drooly is a word, right?) but nothing really came of it. 

I am really enjoying this age.  She can interact with us and show emotion and affection.  She lets you know what she wants in her own way...usually by screaming at me!  We are starting some baby signs...we don't expect her to start doing them until about 9 mo but we are introducing them now.  Right now we do Mommy, Daddy, Milky and All Done.  She usually laughs at me when I do All Done!  She has said Da Da a few times in context but usually it is just babbling.  I am pretty sure she said Mommmm-eeeeeee the other day as she was screaming at me while I was trying to clean the kitchen.  That got me to stop and pay attention to her!! 

She is also still doing great with the solids...although she is not a fan of mashed potatoes (who doesn't like mashed potatoes?!) and we won't try bananas again for a while...it was the reason we had to introduce prunes!

Here are some of my favorite pics from the past month:

First taste of puffs...I don't think she was quite ready for them.  She doesn't really know how to chew yet!  We put them away and might bring them back out in a few weeks!

First two teeth!

Drooly...see I told you it was a word!

She loves to stand!

Trying to go somewhere!

They love each other!

Big girl bath!

First taste of peaches!  And of course mommy had to take a picture of the pretty bow!  I wish I had more to work with!

First day at swim class!

Workin on the sippy cup thing...

New Blog and Subscriptions!

I have a new blog! I will continue this one for documenting our little peanut as she grows and learns new things. I love the idea of being able to look back and have all the little moments and milestones captured forever. I am better at this than a baby book...haven't really started one of those! Oh, and I need to get to work on my scrapbooking too but I have a new distraction...my new camera! I love it and I am so excited to learn more about it and learning how to take better pictures. The goal is to get to where I can have a little studio in the basement (once we get it finished) and do portraits. I am leaning towards maternity, baby and kids mostly so I am really excited to get things going and see where this takes me. My new blog is April Snaps 365 and you can subscribe using the link at the top right to get automatic updates! Speaking of subscriptions...I have also added that feature to this blog as well. So for those of you that get automatic emails this will be the last one you recieve unless you click the link at the top right of this blog as well (link to the actual blog should be at the bottom of your email). This way I make sure that only the people that actually WANT to read my ramblings will get automatic emails!

Six Months!

Where has the time gone? My little girl is growing so fast. Every day is a new adventure. It must be so exciting to be 6 months old! She thinks everything is hilarious and interesting. She is sitting up so well now...I don't even have to sit by her and catch her every 10 seconds anymore.

We started solids at 5 months. I really wasn't ready...but she was! We couldn't even eat dinner without her trying to grab our food or drinks. We started with rice and it was a big hit! She loves to eat!

After we went through all the grains we tried some carrots! YUMMY!

I have been making her baby food. It is really fun and simple...and most of all cheap!! The first weekend I made food I made carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes. I got at least 16 servings of each out of one bag of baby carrots, one butternut squash and two sweet potatoes. Talk about saving money and doing something good for my baby. It is really simple too. Just steam the veggies, pop them in the food processor and freeze in cubes. After they are frozen I pop them out into a freezer bag and label it. Then I just grab a frozen cube and thaw when I am ready to use it!

Carrots ready to be frozen!

Her favorite breakfast by far is oatmeal! Although now we have added apples to it and it makes it even better!

We are also teething right now. She has one tooth on the bottom that is through the gum but not up very much. You can feel that sharp little thing but can't really see it. It would help if she let you look at it without trying to lick you! The one next to it should be coming soon!

We gave her a teething biscuit and she loved it...but totally made a mess! After this she went straight to the tub!

This is her first taste of squash. It looks like she doesn't like it but actually squash has been the biggest hit. The first few bites of something new looks like this until she figures it out!

We tried the ducky tub! She had so much fun but once she got soapy she was slipping everywhere so until she gets better at sitting on her own we are back to the mesh wedge for baths. She loves a bath though!

The only things I haven't made on my own yet are peas and green beans. I could probably do green beans but with peas you have to have a food mill to get rid of the skins (apparently babies don't digest them well) so I figured I wasn't saving much if I had to buy a food mill. Maybe I will try green beans later though. Here is a pic of her eating peas!

Tummy time is becoming a lot more fun now that she doesn't face plant anymore! She pushes up pretty well but hasn't really figured out how to get up on her knees. She will roll over if she wants to but it is a rare occasion. She can scoot around but usually just fusses if she can't reach something. I feel an army crawl or at least better scooting soon!

These next pics were taken with my brand new Canon SLR!! Brian got it for me for Valentines Day and I LOVE it! I was really not impressed with our professional 3 month pics so since I want to get into photography anyway we decided it was a good time to invest in a good camera. I have learned a lot but still have a long way to go. These were taken the day after I got my camera so I can tell they are a bit over exposed and some are a little grainy but still way better than paying for crappy ones at JCPenney!

Four months!

My little girl is growing up! We look at her and to us she seems like she is getting so big but she really is still very petite! She was 11lb 14.5 oz at the Dr. yesterday so that puts her in the 15th percentile which is where she was at 2 months. Her Dr. is ok with it because it is consistent still. She is still our happy baby and rarely gets fussy. When she does it is because she is hungry or tired and those are both easy fixes! I started back to work last month and I am so lucky that she doesn't have to go to daycare. She has both Grandmas who love to babysit! I think she does better without me than I do without her. I try not to call too much when I am gone but there are times when I can't concentrate at work until I call her and say Hi. I don't worry that she is not doing ok...I just miss her!

Four months is going to be such a fun age! She is learning new things every day. Daddy taught her to blow raspberries the other day. So cute, however, when she is breastfeeding the raspberries are not so fun! She makes a huge mess! She babbles and squeals and coos at us and tells us all kinds of stories. She has rolled over from belly to back a few times. We usually have to prop her up on her elbows a little before she will do it but she is getting closer to doing it completely on her own. We probably need to do more tummy time to help...mommy has been slacking on that. I can't wait to see what the next few months bring!!

We did a little photo shoot today and I think I decided I am NEVER going to JCPenney again! I had some done there at 3 months and they weren't anything special...of course Haylea looked gorgeous as always but I was not impressed with the photography. I did much better with my little point and shoot camera than they did!

Way overdue for an update...

Haylea is now 3 1/2 months old and I can't believe how time flies. She is constantly amazing us with her development. She has great head control and can sit in her bumbo for quite a while. She loves sitting up and looking around. She has rolled over from belly to back a few times but usually needs a little help. We also introduced her to her exersaucer about two weeks ago and she loves it too! She immediately learned how to push the buttons to make the lights and music play. It is amazing to me that a 3 month old can learn something like that. I think she is gifted! Don't all moms think that though?! She is still sleeping pretty well with the occasional night where she thinks it is playtime and won't go to sleep. Sometimes after a 2am feeding she lays in her bassinet and "talks" to herself for a while. She is still napping in her swing and the last stretch of night in the early morning but sleeps at night in her bed. We are slowly working on that last stretch in the early morning keeping her in her bassinet. Sometimes it works and sometimes it is a joke! As soon as her crib is finished (should be soon!) and after she gets used to sleeping in it at night we will work on getting her out of the swing for naps. I don't want to change too much all at the same time. I am ready for her to be in her own room but at the same time I think I will be sad. She has never been more than 5 feet from me at night...and it makes those 2am feedings a lot easier! But she is outgrowing her bassinet already. She likes to sleep with her arms out and they are always pushed up against the sides of her bed. I know she will be more comfy in her bed where nothing gets in her way. She looks so big in her bassinet but I know she will look so tiny in her crib! I know in no time she will be rolling all around in her bed and I will find her in the most awkward positions...more reason to get her used to her crib soon. Of course I will post pics of the finished product as soon as I can! There are just a few finishing touches left and then it will be ready for her!

It is hard to believe that a year ago Haylea was just a ball of cells growing inside me and now she is a happy, thriving baby. I am still amazed that my body finally cooperated with me and produced such a beautiful baby. We have had an amazing year and have been blessed so much. I can't wait to see what the next year holds and watch Haylea grow and reach new milestones. Although, I would love for her to stay exactly how she is right now I know she has so much to learn and do and I will be so proud to watch her accomplish it all!

She has her 4 month appointment in a few weeks so I will update again then with weight and all the technical stuff!